wfn.org | Ecclesiastical Diplomacy Takes the Stage in Taiwan

[Taiwan Church News <pctpress@ms1.hinet.net>]

Taiwan Church News 2667, April 13, 2003
Reported by Li Yi-shin. Translated and rewritten by David
Alexander

   A delegation from the Reformed Church in America (RCA), which
has a longstanding and close relationship with the Presbyterian
Church in Taiwan (PCT), paid a call to Taipei and Tainan from
April 1 to 3 on its way to China.  The group was led by the Rev.
Mr. Tiu* Geng-siong (John Chang), who is president of the RCA's
General Synod this year.
   Mr. Tiu* was born and raised and educated in Taiwan. He is a
graduate of Tainan Theological College and Seminary.  He has
lived in the USA since 1980, and is the pastor of Grace Christian
Church (RCA) on Staten Island in New York City.  He is the first
Asian elected to the presidency of the RCA in its 375 year
history on the North American continent.  Twenty of the RCA's
over 900 churches are ethnically Taiwanese.
   The delegation visited Tainan Theological College and Seminary
on the morning of April 2nd, then flew to Taipei for an audience
with Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian that afternoon.
    Mr. Tiu* told the President that the RCA stands alone among
mainline Protestant churches in the USA in its support of
Taiwan's entry into the United Nations and its call for a general
recognition of Taiwan's role in the international community. The
RCA's General Synod has written formal letters to US President
George W. Bush and to United Nations' Secretary General Kofi Anan
on the matter.
   President Chen received Mr. Tiu*'s remarks with gratitude.  He
thanked the RCA for its concern for Taiwan's freedom, democracy
and for its action which evidenced Taiwan's progress in
ecumenical esteem. He went on to say that when a Taiwanese person
is elected to head a church denomination, it is not just a
personal honor, but a hope for future close cooperation and
Taiwan's return to the world stage.
   The General Secretary of the RCA, The Rev. Mr. Wesley
Granberg-Michaelson, in thanking President Chen for receiving the
group, reiterated the close relationship between the two churches
in concern for Taiwan's democracy and freedom. He also said that
the churches' concern for the society and its weak sectors cannot
be carried out without recognition of the need for growth and
strengthening.
   He added that strength comes when believers serve with zeal.
When church hierarchies and agencies unite with local churches,
clergy and believers, the resulting network facilitates the
enjoyment of spiritual gifts and mutual service.  This can lead
to constant renewal of churches, and opens the way for the coming
of the Kingdom of God.

For more information: www.rca.org
		      www.pct.org.tw

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